Brake operating device for bicycle

ABSTRACT

Bicycle hand brake means in which a brake lever is pivoted to a bracket secured to a bicycle handle; an elongated slot is formed through the front wall of the bracket; and a locking lever having its one end pivoted to the brake lever and a toothed engaging portion is extended through the slot so that the locking lever may be selectively engaged with the bracket, thereby maintaining the brake application.

United States Patent 1 Yoshigai Apr. 2, 1974 [54] BRAKE OPERATING DEVICEFOR 2,492,466 12/1949 Day 74/541 BICYCLE 2,560,154 7/1951 Brown 74/541 X[76] Inventor W Primary Examiner-Allan D. Herrmann g ggg lg? g l i gzAttorney, Agent, or FirmSughrue, Rothwel], Mion,

Zinn & Macpeak [22] Filed: Jan. 22, 1973 21 App]. No.: 325,719 [57]ABSTRACT Bicycle hand brake means in which a brake lever is 52 vs. C!74/489, 74/541, 188/265 pivoted to a bracket Secured to a bicyclehandle; 51 I Cl n 1362' 23/0 B621 3 02 05 5/0 elongated slot 15 formedthrough the front wall of the 5 Fidd of Search U 74/4 4 9 54 1 2 5bracket; and a locking lever having its one end pivoted to the brakelever and a toothed engaging portion is [56] References Citedi extendedthrough the slot so that the locking lever UNITED STATES PATENTS may beselectively engaged with the bracket, thereby maintaining the brakeapplication. 2,716,031 8/1955 Roessler 74/541 X 2,472,442 6/1949Schueler 74/541 X 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures BRAKE OPERATING DEVICE FORBICYCLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to abrake operating device fitted to the bicycle handle and moreparticularly a brake operating device having simple locking or detentmeans for maintaining a brake lever selectively in its brake applicationposition so that the device can eliminate the necessity of gripping thebrake lever all the time while running down a long downward slope so asto apply the brake because when the locking or detent means is actuatedto its locking position the brake securely remains applied even afterthe hand is released from the brake lever, whereby the steering of thebicycle is much facilitated and the fatigue due to the continuousgripping both of the handle and the brake lever for operating the brakemay be substantially reduced.

In general, as is widely known, the brakes of the front and rear wheelsof the bicycle are actuated by the brake levers attached to the handlethrough the brackets and connected to the flexible release wires whichare resiliently biased by the springs or the like. Therefore the ridermust grip both the handle for steering and the brake levers for pullingthe release wires so as to actuate the brake shoes or the like dependingupon the running conditions. Especially when running down a longdownward slope, it is imperative for the rider to grip simultaneouslyboth of the handle and the brake levers securely all the time. In thiscase, a strong brake actuating force is required since the release wireswhich are normally biased to the brake release positions by the springsor the like must be pulled against the springs for applying the brake.That is, the brake actuating force must overcome the returning force ofthe springs. Therefore, gripping the brake levers for pulling therelease wires for a considerably longer time gives much fatigue to therider. Furthermore, it is imperative to steer the handle all the timedepending upon running conditions such as a flat plate or slope,vehicles, pedestrians and so on so that the rider often tends to releasethe brake levers, thereby causing a momentary interruption of brakeapplication. Gripping simultaneously both of the handle and the brakelevers for a long time will inevitably gives much fatigue and mentalstress to the rider, so that the rider finds it very difficult toquickly steer the handle in response to the ever-changing runningconditions. The brake lever of the character described above having theserious problems described has not been improved and is inconvenient inoperation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, the primary object of thepresent invention is to provide an improved bicycle brake operatingdevice of the type in which a brake lever once actuated to its brakeoperating or applying position may securely remain in this position evenafter a rider release his grip from the brake lever as long as hedesires.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedbicycle brake operating device in which a brake lever may be selectivelylocked in its brake operating or applying position depending upon therunning speed of the bicycle and upon the extent of brake applicationthat a rider desires.

Further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedbicycle brake operating device in which the brake remains applied aslong as a rider desires without gripping the brake lever and the brakemay be released or further applied for quick stop only by gripping thebrake lever again.

Further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedbicycle brake operating device which can eliminate the fatigue andstress of a rider due to frequent operations of a brake lever whilesteering the handle of the bicycle so that the smooth steering may beensured, thereby providing the safe-guarded running and facilitating thesteering of the bicycle.

Further of the present invention is to provide an improved bicycle brakeoperating device which is simple in construction and reliable inoperation and is free from breakdown, thereby safeguarding the running.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the description of anillustrative embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view of oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof viewed from the left in FIG. 1.

F IG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 illustrating the brake lever lockingposition, and

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating a locking lever according to the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT At the leading side edge of awall 12 of a lever housing or bracket 10 is formed a projection or guidesleeve 13 to which is secured an outer wire 16 of a release wire 15which is interconnected with a brake member for applying or releasingthe brake of a wheel of a bicycle (not shown) through detent or lockingmeans generally indicated by 14. A brake lever 20 is pivotably securedby a pivot 19 to the lever housing or bracket between the lower sidewalls thereof in such a manner that the leading end portion 17 of thebrake lever 20 may abut against a notched portion 18 formed at the rearend, of the projection or guide sleeve 13. One end of an inner wire 21is securely fixed by a pin 22 to suitable position of the brake lever20. A locking slot 23 is formed vertically through a front wall Zn onthe side of the release wire 15 of the wall 12 and a locking lever 24 ispivotably secured by pin 25 to the brake lever 20 substantiallyintermediate between the pivot 19 and the pin 22. The locking lever 24has a bent configuration and its free end 14a is bent toward the pin 25so as to form an L-shaped operating member. A saw-tooth shaped engagingmember 16 is formed along the top of the lever 24.

Next the mode of operation of a brake operating device according to thepresent invention will be described hereinafter. When it is desired tocontinuously apply the brake and to reduce the speed of the bicycle atthe downward slope the rider grips and rotates the brake lever 20 in thedirection indicated by the arrow A so that the inner wire 21 is pulledtoward the lever housing or bracket 10. After suitably adjusting thespeed of the bicycle to safely ride down the downward slope, the riderpushes the operating member 14a of the locking lever 24 in the directionindicated by the arrow B by his index finger while gripping the brakelever 20 so that the engaging member 26 may engage with the upper sideof the locking slot 23. Thereafter, the rider stops pushing theoperating member 14a and releases the brake lever 20. (In this state,the locking lever 24 is shown by the chain line in FIG. 4). Thus, itwill be seen that the returning rotation (in the direction opposite tothat indicated by the arrow A) of the brake lever 20 by the force of aspring or the like of the inner wire 21 will be positively prevented bythe engagement of the engaging member 26 of the locking lever 24 pivotedto the lever 21 with the upper side of edge of the locking slot 23.Therefore, the brake lever 20 remains in brake applying position so thatthe rider may safely run down the downward slope at a suitably brakedspeed without gripping the brake lever 20.

When it is desired to release the above described brake application, therider grips and rotates the brake lever 20 slightly in the directionindicated by the arrow A so that the engagement of the engaging member26 with the locking slot 23 may be immediately released because thelocking lever 24 moves downwardly naturally by its own weight.Thereafter, when the rider releases the brake lever 20, the lever willreturn to its normal position as shown in FIG. 1 (the position indicatedby the solid line in FIG. 4).

From the foregoing, it will be seen that when it is desired to applybrake and to continue running with the brake applied for a certain timedepending upon the running conditions, it is not necessary at allaccording to the present invention to grip securely the brake lever withthe same hand that is gripping the handle so that the brake operatingdevice of the present invention is very effective in relieving the riderfrom fatigue and mental stress.

One of the most important advantages accrued from the present inventionis a simple mechanism because the locking lever pivoted to one side ofthe brake lever the locking slot 23 is formed at a portion of thehousing or bracket 10, and the engaging member 26 is formed in thelocking lever. That is, when the brake lever tends to rotate about thepivot 19 by the resilient returning force of the inner wire 21, theengaging member 26 of the locking lever 24 may engage with the lockingslot 23 by the force which tends to rotate the lever 24 in the samedirection with that of the brake lever 20, whereby the locking action ispositive and strong by the interrelation of action and reaction.Therefore, the brake operating device of the present invention cancompletely eliminate the fatigue caused by gripping the brake lever fora long time with the considerably strong force when running down a longdownward slope. Furthermore the brake locking operation may be securelyeffected by the locking lever 24 which may be actuated only by onefinger of the hand gripping the handle grip so that such operation maybe effected by any rider. When the brake must be applied to full extentfor complete and quick stop during the running with the brake appliedpartially as described hereinabove, it is only required for the rider togrip the brake lever 20 with stronger force without operating thelocking lever 24 so that no accident and danger will occur. When it isdesired to release the brake, the engagement of the engaging member 26with the locking slot 23 may be automatically released only by grippingthe brake lever 20 so that the brake lever 20 as well as the wire 21 mayreturn automatically to their initial or brake releasing position. Tosum up, the bicycle running with the brake being partially applied canbe remarkably improved without causing any fatigue and mental stress tothe rider.

lt is to be understood that variations and modifications in designs alsobelong to the scope of the present invention.

What I claim is: I

1. A brake operating device for bicycle comprising a. brake lever meansconnected directly to a release wire for actuating brake means,

b. housing means adapted to be secured to a handle of a bicycle in whichis pivotably secured said brake lever means and which has a locking slotformed through a front wall portion thereof, and

0. locking lever means having one end thereof pivoted to said brakelever means and an engaging member for interlocking engagement with saidslot formed at the upper side surface thereof and extending through saidlocking slot wherein the free end of said locking lever remote from itspivotal point to said brake lever means is bent in one direction so asto provide a member which may be easily operable by one finger of anoperators hand gripping the handle of the bicycle.

2. A brake operating device as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidengaging member comprises a plurality of teeth so that said brake levermeans may be locked at an arbitrary brake applying position.

1. A brake operating device for bicycle comprising a. brake lever meansconnected directly to a release wire for actuating brake means, b.housing means adapted to be secured to a handle of a bicycle in which ispivotably secured said brake lever means and which has a locking slotformed through a front wall portion thereof, and c. locking lever meanshaving one end thereof pivoted to said brake lever means and an engagingmember for interlocking engagement with said slot formed at the upperside surface thereof and extending through said locking slot wherein thefree end of sAid locking lever remote from its pivotal point to saidbrake lever means is bent in one direction so as to provide a memberwhich may be easily operable by one finger of an operator''s handgripping the handle of the bicycle.
 2. A brake operating device as setforth in claim 1 wherein said engaging member comprises a plurality ofteeth so that said brake lever means may be locked at an arbitrary brakeapplying position.